Surpises

I home edded my D's for 13 months out of sheer necessity.He had more time ,and started skateboarding.T his hobby has changed his life and personality in very positive ways .Have your DC developed a passion or hobby ,because they had more time and less stress?

My eldest is in Spain at the moment having competed in the European Championships of the First Lego League. He and 6 HE friends have been able to spend hours designing and programming a Lego robot, researching and putting together a presentation whilst learning fantastic team-work and problem solving skills.They' ve had to deal with the highs of winning the regional heat and getting a special award for innovation at the nationals to big disappointment at a tech failure this week. And they've socialised with 90 other teams from 42 countries, they've had an absolute ball.This single activity has matured DC as nothing else has. It's his GCSE year and I can't imagine he would have had the time had he been in school.

Yes, my dd has developed her passion for music and has progressed far more than she would have done if she was still attending school. I know that some dc are given time off school for LA managed activities but it was becoming so frequent with dd that even before Gove her teachers were wanting to commit to fewer days off school. There is no way she would be allowed to do this now. She does work hard though, but H.ed has given her this opportunity and she knows she is very lucky to have the chances she does. Are you going to continue to H.ed with such a positive experience?

Dear More Than .My D's is back at school .To be honest,I exhausted myself and spent 5 hours on one to one education daily. I was pleased when he wanted to go back. Saying that I would love to he'd my 6 yr old .I would do it different ly though.

Dear More Than .My D's is back at school .To be honest,I exhausted myself and spent 5 hours on one to one education daily. I was pleased when he wanted to go back. Saying that I would love to he'd my 6 yr old .I would do it different ly though.

My ds quickly had a passion for art when he'd never drawn much at all before. He settled on a design career and draws designs most days. He has become involved with the local community; clearing gardens, walking dogs and odd-jobbing for a lady with cancer. He does a whole variety of swim lessons and he has great childcare skills from all those hours around my childminding business.

My DS discovered that he's not stupid at absolutely everything - in fact he's quite good at science. HE has allowed us to do literacy/numeracy projects based around scientific topics so it's boosted his other academic subjects. Rebuilding his sense of self from something completely negative into making him feel like he's worth something has been the biggest thing this year though.

I suspect his science will take him on a journey into an adult niche that will be far happier than the one he'd have had if he'd remained at school - he's only 9 so enjoying a journey of discovery in regards to his strengths. School was all too good at pointing out his deficits (he has SN's).